NSU started out as a manufacturer of knitting machines in 1873.
Then came bicycles, and not only complete bikes, but also parts for other companies. At that point the name NSU was created, just taking three letters from the name Neckarsulm, the town they were located in.
In 1905, the first NSU cars were built, and some were even used (succesfully) in racing.
In the 1928, the manufacturing of cars was stopped. Fiat acquired the rights to the NSU name from a company which had run into severe financial difficulties.

The FIAT company "NSU Automobil AG" started building NSU cars again in 1957, at the same time the then called NSU Werke AG did the same with the (then) new Prinz.
This lead to much confusion, and in 1959, the FIAT cars where marked NSU/FIAT.
In 1960 the NSU company was renamed to "NSU Motorenwerke AG".

Autobianchi was a partnership between the three Italian companies of Bianchi, Fiat, and Pirelli.
Utilizing Fiat platforms, they provided the consumer with an upgrade over the basic Fiat models. This equation proved popular as five body styles were made based on the Fiat 500 chassis.

This car was marketed in Germany as the "Panorama Standard" and the "Panorama mit Sonnendach" (with sunroof)